


Secrets of Xing

by Internal_Screaming



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Al angst, Al focused, Angst, Gen, al you aren’t armour anymore, chimera, he has nightmares, my son - Freeform, stop trying to shield everyone, two big chimera guards, you’ll end up like ed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-01-26 03:37:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12547960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Internal_Screaming/pseuds/Internal_Screaming
Summary: Two years have passed since the promised day and Al departs to Xing with Zampano and Jerso to learn more about the countries Alkahestry and hopefully find a way to return the two men to their original bodies. But darkness lurks in the shadows, and word of a foreign golden haired alchemist spreads throughout the country, making Al a target to many.





	1. First day rumbles

**Author's Note:**

> You have no idea how hard I searched for a fic like this, then decided to say FUCK IT, IM WRITING IT THEN.
> 
> This story therefore revolves around Al and his chimera bodyguards and their adventure through Xing.

Alphonse Elric took in a deep breath, enjoying the sweet smell of the many different foods around them. One of the many things Al had craved when he was bound to the armour was the physical smell of everything. The smell of air on a summer day, the smell of rain before a storm approaches, and the many different smells of exotic foods that surrounded him now. It felt like yesterday that he physically opened his eyes and took in the fresh air with his real body. After the joy and celebration, he discovered that Ed physically punched father in the face after his sacrifice. He couldn’t believe he missed the best part, but he was proud of his brother.

Guilt slightly tugged at his gut at the memory of the promised day. His brother gave up his alchemy to bring him back, and those two years of recovery was filled with Ed insisting he didn’t need it then immediately making a fool of himself.

Now he was exploring Xing, in hopes of discovering new alchemy as well as a personal mission to find a way to restore his brothers alchemy. He never told Ed about this mission, they would just get into a heated argument about how he knew the risks and didn’t need it anymore. His brother just didn’t understand how much he wanted to give BACK. Ed had done so much for him, and now it was his turn to return the favour. 

But finding a way to restore alchemy wasn’t his only mission.

“Whoa, that smells incredible! Do you think we could get some?” Jerso asked, nearly drooling over the smell. Al didn’t blame him, it did smell incredible.

“Yeah, I gotta agree with Jerso, that stuff smells way too good to just pass up,” Zampano agreed.

“Alright, I guess we’re stopping for lunch!” Al laughed, leading the two larger men towards the restaurant. His two ‘bodyguards’ were part of his other mission, which was to find a way to restore their bodies back to normal. 

Walking into the building, the trio found a nice corner table and sat down. A waitress cautiously handed them all menus, then quickly relaxed as they all thanked her for the menus and walked away to let them decide what to eat. One glance at the menu and Al felt his hand nervously scratch his neck. “I realize now I can’t read this,” He sheepishly laughed.

“Ya, me neither,” Jerso sighed.

“I guess we could just order some random thing, none of us are allergic to anything. Right?” Zampano asked.

“I don’t think so, I guess we could just choose what seems appealing? There are pictures in the menu,” Al chuckled.

“We probably should’ve found someone to help us translate, or even teach us this country’s language before crossing the border,” Zampano coughed. “Why couldn’t you call your lil’ princess girlfriend?”

Al’s face quickly reddened, causing him to hide it in his menu. “She’s busy, doing important princess stuff,” Al mumbled, failing to hide his embarrassment.

“Well, we should make our first priority as finding someone who speaks both English and Xingese,” Jerso noted. Nodding in agreement, the proceeded to struggle in ordering their meals, but managed to get the idea across.

“So Al, any idea of where our destination is?” Zampano asked as they waited for their meal.

“Well, Mei told me to practice connecting to the ‘Dragons Pulse’ while I’m here, which hopefully may help. Other than that, my only plan is to follow any rumours about philosopher stones or something related to the sort,” Al admitted.

“I... I kinda expected more to be honest,” Jerso sighed.

Al nervously shrugged, “it was all brother and I did, follow leads until we hit a dead end. Then dig for more leads.”

“That is all you did... huh... I guess it could work. So we gonna stay in this town until something turns up?” Zampano questioned.

“Yeah, which may be awhile since it’s kinda hard to hear rumours when you can’t understand the country’s language,” Al sighed.

“Hey, how did Mei and Ling know English?” Jerso asked.

“Mei told me that being connected to the Dragons Pulse allows her to understand all. Ling... I have no clue,” Al shrugged.

“Wait... why don’t you do that connecting to the Dragons Pulse?” Zampano suggested.

Al mentally slapped himself in the face, “of course! I should’ve thought of this in the beginning! All I need to do is focus-“

The windows exploded, sending glass shards in many directions and causing many people to scream in panic. Out of pure instinct, Al jumped out of his chair and tried shielding the two chimeras, only to be dragged out of the way and shielded by them. “Jeez, you’re not made out of metal anymore!” Jerso cried, looking over the table.

“I’m sorry! Force of habit! Kinda been beaten into me after shielding brother for so long. I just... forget!” Al apologized, trying to find the source of the chaos.

“You gotta be much more careful now,” Zampano replied. “Flesh and bone doesn’t fix as easily as metal!”

“Habit!” Al protested. “Let’s stop bickering and figure out what’s going on!” With that being said, he jumped over the flipped table and strode towards the shattered windows despite Zampano’s and Jerso’s protests. A loud voice was heard booming from outside the shop, and it Alphonse a moment to figure out he was speaking multiple languages at the same time.

“Miracles will be performed! Countries will crumble and a new empire will rise from the ashes! One under a unified ruler!” The man screamed.

Al sighed and jumped through the broken window frame and strode into the street towards the man. He didn’t look like he was native to Xing. He was a thin brunette who looked like he hadn’t been near civilization for months. A crazy alchemist who had a god complex. With closer inspection, he noticed a familiar transmutation circle on the left sleeve of his jacket. He must’ve used it to cause the explosion and shatter the surrounding areas glass. “Hey!” Al called, his stride not wavering as the man snapped his attention towards him. “Don’t you think this is a bit much? Why can’t you just let these people enjoy their day?” 

The man quickly accessed Al, then a shadow of a smirk crossed his face, but quickly disappeared the next second. “Do you challenge me?” He hissed.

“What? No! I just want to revolve this peacefully-!” Al sputtered, but was interrupted as the man stepped forward. 

“I’ll show you my power!” He shrieked. His transmutation circle sparked to life and Alphonse felt the air around change, quickly realizing what he was about to do. Within that split second, he clapped his hands together, completing his on circle, and slammed them onto the ground, shifting the earth around him and shielding him from the explosion that followed. When the explosion stopped, he transmuted the earth back to its original state and looked around in shock to find the man had disappeared. Alphonse frowned and placed his hands on his hips. “That was weird, blows up shopping area, screams, then disappears!”

“Al!” Jerso and Zampano yelled in union, stumbling towards him.

“Oh! Did you guys see where he went?” Al asked.

“The yelling guy? No clue, but are you alright?” Jerso asked.

“Of course I’m fine, I can take care of myself you know!” Al whined. He looked around at the destruction left behind and frowned. He sighed then turned to the chimeras and gave them a smile. “I know that I’m still building up my strength, and I really do appreciate you both looking out for me, but I don’t need babysitters. I need friends, now would you like to help me clean up this mess?” 

Zampano shook his head with a chuckle, “you know, sometimes you act like your brother. Only less loud and angry.”

Al snorted in response, “I bet he already got himself into some sort of trouble. He really needs to learn to control his temper!” 

“Scolding him from halfway across the world, how are you the younger brother?” Jerso laughed.

Al shrugged as he transmuted some debris back to its original state. “Ed has his own special qualities, he’ll always be my big brother.”

Zampano patted Al’s head before helping with gathering the debris for him to transmute, “You’re too pure kid.”

“Excuse you! I’m an adult now!” Al whined.

“Barely,” Jerso chuckled.

Al huffed, but hid his smile with the flash of his transmutations. It was nice being around friends.


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al gets a little more attention than he may have bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN YALL.
> 
> Stay safe when going out there but don’t forget to have fun!

Al repaired the last of the buildings, the sparking light from the reaction quickly fading away. He wiped away the sweat that formed over his brow, giving a thumbs up to Jerso and Zampano and a smile to the citizens who gathered. A small woman had hobbled over to him, tugging on his arm and insisting that she repay him. After trying to explain that he just wanted to help, he caved in and accepted her offer to let him and his friends stay the night at her Inn, free of charge.

He then noticed the citizens that started to swarm around the group, fascinated with the foreign alchemy Al had displayed. The only thing that kept the people from getting too close we’re his bodyguards, who were quite bigger than the citizens. Al was quickly becoming flustered by all the attention, which Jerso and Zampano both noticed and whisked him away to a quieter place.

“You alright Al?” Zampano asked, checking over his shoulder for any possible followers.

“Yeah, I usually am used to the stares. But they never lingered so long! How does brother stand so much attention?” Al huffed.

Jerso barked a laugh, “your brother THRIVES on attention. Any attention he doesn’t want, he just ignores or yells at. For now, I think you should be ready to embrace it, cause this ain’t the end of it.”

“It’s not?” Al asked.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we stick out like sore thumbs. A lot of people here have dark hair and eyes, making light hair and eyes a bit of an exotic colour here,” Zampano explained.

“Not to mention Xing’s alchemy is very focused in the medical field. And you do it without any circles. Which is a given attention grabber,” Jerso sighed.

“Oh man, I don’t know how long I’ll last!” Al whimpered.

“You’ll be fine! It will only be in towns. And it could work to our advantage!” Jerso exclaimed. “Any rumours out there could come straight to you! No need for sneaking around!”

“I-I guess,” Al smiled, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

“Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s head to that Hotel and get some decent rest. I’ve been craving a proper bed this entire trip, and a possible bath,” Zampano reasoned.

Al nodded in agreement, a nice bed compared to their constant ground sleeping did sound nice. “Alright, let’s go then! I need to wash this rubble and dust out of my hair,” Al laughed.

With that being said, the group headed back to the Hotel, avoiding any crowds as they did so, then ran nice, hot baths to wash away any worries. Al sunk deeper into the warm water, feeling himself relax as the grime washed away. By the time he finished, he felt like a new person, fresh and alive. He dressed in light nightwear and decided to check on the other two men before heading off to bed.

He crossed the halls and gently knocked on their door. A muffled ‘Yeah?’ Called back through the door.

“I’m heading to bed! I’ll see you guys in the morning!” Al called just loud enough so that they could hear him, but not disturb any other visitors.

“All right Al!” Jerso replied.

Satisfied, Al headed back to his room, locked the door, then nestled into the bed. The sheets were soft and warm and he felt himself drift off into a blissful sleep.

——

_Al woke up, but something didn’t feel right. He was sitting on the floor for some reason, how did he get there?_

_Standing up, he heard a clank and and creak and froze._

_No._

_It couldn’t be..._

_Slowly looking down at his hands, he quickly recognized the leather gloves and metal arms._

_Fear gripped his soul as he stumbled backwards, slamming into the wall behind him and trembling in confusion and fear._

_How did this happen? He got his body back! But why was he back in this armour?_

_He reached out for anything, to smell, feel, or even BREATH. But he smelled nothing. He felt nothing. He couldn’t breath._

_Dread and fear snatched his breath away and he found himself leaning heavily against the wall._

_It couldn’t have been all for nothing!_

_He could hear the voices, tell him that regaining his body was nothing but a child’s dream and now... now he was going to be stuck feeling nothing once again, and staying awake, alone, EVERY NIGHT._

_“Brother!” Al yelped, crossing the room to the older sibling who sat up sleepily from the bed and rubbed his eyes. “Why am I back in this armour? Didn’t I get my body back after we fought Father?”_

_“Al, what are you talking about? Don’t you remember?” Ed asked, looking up at his rattled brother. “It was all just a dream, we’re still stuck like this.” He held up his automail arm and Al gasped, shaking his head as he stumbled back._

_They... they fixed it though! They bargained with truth, realized their mistake!_

_This couldn’t be real!_

_“Al... it’s all your fault...” Ed whispered, his voice suddenly darker. Al whipped his head in his brothers direction, whimpering as he backed away. “You could’ve stopped us Al, you could’ve stop me. If you dug in your heels, we wouldn’t be in this situation. I wouldn’t have had to give up my arm for you.”_

_Al felt the heaviness of his words sink deep into his soul, it was his fault._

_If only he knew._

_If only he stopped them in time. He deserved this, he deserved to be in this cold and hollow armour._

_It was his fault._

——

Alphonse jerked awake with a start, gripping his chest and hyperventilating as he sat upright, drenched in sweat. He quickly looked over himself, confirming he wasn’t metal anymore and he could feel it when he pinched himself. He was alive, he had his body, he wasn’t in the armour anymore.

It was just a dream. That’s all. Just a dream.

He heaved a heavy sigh as he relaxed, shaking off the bad dream and then leaning against the backboard of the bed. It felt so real, and this wasn’t the first time he had this nightmare. He still feared the fact that all of this was an elaborate daydream and he was going to snap out of it and realize he was still in that cold, hollow armour.

But this was real. He had his body, he’s had it for years now, this wasn’t a dream. He was fine. He was safe.

Movement in the corner of the room caused him to snap his head in that direction. Maybe he wasn’t as safe as he initially thought. All he could see were the long shadows in the small room, one strangely human looking one catching his attention, was he still hallucinating from the dream? He slowly moved his legs over the side of the bed, gently lifting the sheets and keeping his eyes on the shadow.

“Hello?” He asked, standing up slowly and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. The shadow remained still, and Al slowly brought his hands up together. Something felt off about this entire situation, he didn’t know what, but it wasn’t a good feeling.

The shadow moved and Al gasped, stumbling backwards in surprise and into something behind him. That ‘thing’ wrapped its arms around Al and he quickly realized his situation was becoming really, really bad.

Struggling against the brute that restrained him, he noticed the shadow was quickly crossing the room. Al at that moment remembered a piece of advice from his mother all those years ago, one usually meant for a small child. ‘If you find yourself alone in a situation with a stranger who tries to hurt you, just-‘

“Scream,” Al gasped, causing the man holding him to look at him in alarm, then took a quick, deep breath, and shrieked. The shadow moved even faster now, panicked by his loud outburst. He tried kicking the man who held him as he yelled, his arms pinned beside him and disabling his ability to use alchemy at that moment. The shadow pressed a cloth to his face and he immediately held his breath, knowing what he was trying to accomplish.

He refused to go down like this!

Someone rapped on the door, then Jerso’s familiar voice was heard, causing relief to flood through Alphonse. “Al? You alright in there? I thought I heard screaming.”

Squirming against the mans grip, he managed to pull a single arm free and swat the cloth away from his face and take a deep breath of air before yelling, “Help!”

He then managed to scream some more before the cloth was placed back over his face and he was forced a breath of the chemicals that soaked it.

Loud bangs echoed through Al’s head, he guessed it was either Jerso slamming against the door or a gunshot, it was was hard to tell. His vision began to blur and his movements quickly became sluggish, making it a workout in trying to lift his arm. Something large and green crashed through his room door, and that was all he managed to see before he lost all consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Al. First he had a nightmare, then he gets KIDNAPPED. 
> 
> Not really his day.


	3. Chimeras Vs Kidnappers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jerso and Zampano attempt to stop the kidnappers from taking Al.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far I am having a lot of fun because friends, two big buff guys protecting a smol cinnamon roll is one of my favourite tropes in the world.

Jerso quickly took in the scene around him, looking from the large man who held Al who hung limply in his arms to the other culprit quickly pulling away a cloth from his face and turning his attention to the chimera. It was the panic in Al’s eyes before he passed out that really pissed him off at this point. This kid, one of the few people in this world who actually saw him and Zampano as PEOPLE, and these ass-wipes were trying to abduct him. Like hell he was about to let them get away with this.

His shoulder slightly ached from slamming down the stupid door, but a lot of the impact was absorbed by his extra body fat when shifting into his chimera form. The two intruders has gone still when he tore down the door, looking like deer caught in the headlights of a vehicle. “Drop him!” Jerso growled as he lumbered towards them, his seething rage lacing his words with a spitting hiss.

“Jerso, what the hell are you doing? It’s stupid early in the morning-“ Zampano groaned, rubbing his eyes in a tired manner. Once he pulled away his hands, he went rigged as he spotted the two intruding men holding the unconscious Elric and Jerso taking a defensive stance in his Chimera form. “Oh. OH!” He cried, quickly shifting and joining Jerso, adopting a similar stance.

The larger man took a step back and looked at his smaller accomplice. “He never said there were chimeras guarding him!”

“Shut up and get out of here! I’ll handle them!” The smaller kidnapper hissed.

“Jerso, get Al!” Zampano ordered as he quickly adapted to the situation, then charged the shadow man as the spikes blanketing his back and arms lengthened menacingly.

“Got it!” Jerso called back, gathering his saliva and spitting it at the mans feet, forcing him to jump back. He repeated the process, trying to pin him to the ground. Finally, he managed to catch one of his feet and rushed him. But was forced to the side as Zampano slammed into him and sent them both crashing into the wall.

“Get yourself free you idiot! We need to get out of here- now!” There shadow hissed at the larger man. He grunted and snapped out of Jerso’s saliva, then started crawling out the window with the limp Al. 

“No!” Zampano screamed, and shot a spike from his arm at the escaping duo. It struck the larger mans hand, causing him to cry out in pain and drop Al. Jerso acted without thinking, flinging himself out the window and catching the unconscious boy before hitting the ground hard. Luckily, he managed to absorb a lot of the impact and would walk away with only a few bruises.

“Shit. Shiiit!” The smaller man hissed from the shadows. “Let’s get out of here!” 

“Zampano! We need to go after them!” Jerso yelled as he sat up and made sure Al wasn’t hurt from the impact. The other chimera looked out the window, then shook his head and frowned.

“It’s too late, I can’t see them in this darkness, and the scent of chemicals is blocking any trail they may leave behind,” he sighed. “You got him back?”

“Yeah, right here. That was way too close for comfort,” Jerso sighed, reverting back to his human form. “Who the hell is trying to kidnap him? We just got here! And why Al?”

Zampano reverted back as well, looking into the darkness of the night. “Who knows, they didn’t seem prepared for us though. Maybe it could do with someone from Amestris?”

Jerso followed the other chimeras gaze and sat down, hearing the sound of sirens quickly approaching. “I guess so... what would we have done if they did manage to take him?”

“Chase them down? Let’s worry first about what just happened, and try to figure out who it could’ve been instead of what if’s,” Zampano huffed as he jumped down beside Jerso.

“We should call that Mustang guy, tell him what happened. Maybe he has a clue of what this can be about,” Jerso suggested.

Zampano nodded. “That seems reasonable, if anyone knows about people who have grudges against the Elric’s, it’s him. I’ll call him, you stay with Al and make sure nobody comes and tries to pull this stunt again. They may come back tonight and try again before we can regroup or Al wakes up.”

“Will do,” Jerso nodded. 

——

They stared at the two chimeras who talked to each other before the one left towards the building. The other continued to look around suspiciously, his guard up.

There was no way they could get another opportunity like this, if they left now, the kid would be on guard from then on, not to mention his chimera bodyguards.

The figure growled in annoyance, they needed the golden haired boy. They had been watching the borders for years, waiting for someone who matched the description their master gave them. A young man, with golden eyes that matched his hair. That’s all they had, the only description they were given. 

Everyone thought it was a joke, the Amestrians who crossed the border had blond hair, but the eyes were never gold. He was so close to calling it quits and deserting when this kid crossed the border. At first, he thought he was imagining it, and took the time to follow him. When confirming his features, he sent one of his subordinates to ‘test’ him for Amestris’s strange Alkyhestry. Which he passed, only in a stranger way than the normal strange.

They knew they had to subdue him, but the chimeras were a new and unexpected part of the equation that ruined everything!

The sirens of Xings guard unit grew louder and he clutched his head in anger. He had to DO something before they got here and shoved their authority noses in cracks that were meant to stay hidden! He needed a distraction, a way to get close and snatch the golden haired boy.

He noticed the other chimera was still missing and a plan formed in his head. Two against one works-

The other chimera walked out and sat next to the first, then the Xing guards rounded the corner and any hope of fixing this mess was thrown out the window. 

He was going to dread telling his master about how he managed to let the one thing they were looking for slip through his fingers. Looking over his shoulder at his extra help, he frowned and accepted defeat. “There’s nothing more we can do without bringing any more attention our way. Let’s head back and report our findings, we can come back with back-up next time,” he ordered. The bigger man nodded and looked back down at the trio in the streets. The one had stood up and was attempting to communicate with the guards while the other carefully watched the streets. 

They may have lost todays battle, but they would win this war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Close call!
> 
> What could those two possibly want with Al??? Poor baby.


	4. Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al wakes up in a Xing Hospital and learns more about the towns troubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out the end game for this series and now I’m extremely excited. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Al felt sick, his vision blurred and swam, muffled noise swarmed his head. He was having a hard time pinpointing his memories and lacing them back in order. His stomach lurched and he groaned and twisted on his side, croaking out bile over the side of a bed. 

His vision then began to focus a little, his memories falling back into place as his swimming sea of thoughts began to calm. Then he remembered the shadow, and quickly jolted into a sitting position and looked around the room in panic. A woman jumped at his sudden movement, a mop and pail in her arms. With a quick inspection, he realized he was in some sort of hospital room, the bed he was on being a mat on the floor, and the woman he surprised must’ve been a nurse. Then he remembered his retching up his stomach all over the floor.

He looked from the woman to the mess he made and rubbed his neck awkwardly, “s-sorry about that... um... where am I?” He asked. The woman frowned at him, tilting her head in confusion. 

“Shénme?” She asked.

Alphonse quickly recognized the language style and realized he wasn’t connected to the ‘Dragons Pulse’ at that moment. With a quick wipe of his thoughts and focus faced to the flow of energy that ran through the earth, he reconnected and tried again. 

“Sorry, where am I?” He asked again. 

The woman perked up, now understanding him. “Oh! You speak Xingese? That’s not very usual among foreigners,” she chatted, dunking the mop in the bucket of water and mopping up his mess. “You’re in a hospital, your friends brought you here. Right now they are busy with some translators and the village guards.”

Al sunk back into the pillow with relief, from the sounds of it, Zampano and Jerso were fine. “Why am I in a hospital?” Al asked, looking around.

She shrugged, “your friends insisted, they were afraid that you may have broken something. So you feel ok?” She asked.

Al nodded, watching as she finished cleaning up and moved the supplies to the side. “I think I was just chloroformed... do you think I can go help my friends? Explain my side of the story?”

The woman shook her head, “not yet, the medic here wants to double check to make sure nothing is left in your system or see if she missed anything. Just sit back and relax.” With that being said, she took her cleaning supplies and left Al in the empty room. He frowned and looked around, suddenly becoming restless without any company. 

He decided to stand up and walk around the room, exploring every corner. He found he was dressed in a familiar hospital gown, similar to the ones in Amestris, and his clothes were neatly folded on a cushion near the corner. He frowned at the idea of someone undressing him and quickly got into his familiar clothes. 

After dressing, he sat back on the mat while crossing his legs and looked at his hands, frowning. Those people had gotten in his room so easily, and if Jerso or Zampano weren’t there... well... he wasn’t sure he wanted to let his mind wander to those thoughts. He should’ve found a way to fight back, use all his combat training. 

Yet he was still adjusting to his body, he still instinctively ducked when going through doors, and not to mention his constant jumping to shield people with his body. He couldn’t control it, it was just something he had grown accustomed to, the way he protected people when all else failed.

But in those moments, he was so... so USELESS. He could do nothing but flail and cry for help. 

At times like those, he wished he could be more like his brother. The one who always found a way to get out of impossible situations and making such quick decisions, you knew they were only half thought out.

“Al?” 

He jerked out of his thoughts and looked over, smiling as he recognized the two chimera. “You guys are all right!” He exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

“Us? You were the one being kidnapped! Are you alright? I’m sorry we couldn’t have gotten in there earlier, maybe if we had-“ Jerso rambled, stopping as Al stood up and interrupted him.

“It’s fine! It’s my own fault, I should’ve been able to do MORE,” Al sighed, crossing his arms.

“No way man, they got you by surprise. New countries leave everybody a bit disoriented. It was a dirty move, trying to catch you off guard in the middle of the night,” Zampano argued.

Al felt his face heat up with embarrassment, “Yeah, but I should’ve been able to get out of that hold. I’m still just so... unfamiliar with being smaller.”

“It’s alright, no need to apologize for everything! We know now that someone, for some reason, is after you and now we know to keep and eye out,” Jerso noted.

Al nodded, biting his thumb nail as he looked at the wall, “do we know why two strange guys tried abducting me no less than three days after we arrived in Xing?”

Both men shook their heads. “Xing’s police, er... guards, don’t know anything. We explained to them how we are travellers in search for information and that someone tried to abduct one of our travelling friends. So we naturally reacted and did what we could to prevent it. They didn’t dig too much deeper and seemed quite satisfied with our explanation,” Zampano recalled.

“They told us they would watch for people matching the descriptions we gave them, but not to expect too much since Xing is a huge country and they could therefore end up anywhere,” Jerso pointed out.

Al nodded in understanding, looking out the window, then back to the men. “I think it’s about time we find ourselves a library,” Al grinned. 

“A library?” They both asked in union. 

“Now?” Zampano asked.

“Right after I get checked out, apparently the doctor here wants to do one last check up before I leave,” Al noted.

The door slid opened as Al finished speaking and an older woman walked into the room, distracted by the clipboard she held. Her hair was greying but still had some black strands here and there, all of it pulled into a tight bun that rested on the top of her head. She muttered to herself and adjusted her glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of her nose as she closed the door behind her. Looking up, she jolted in surprise when she saw all three of them staring at her.

“Oh! Visitors! And you’re standing up now! Good to see you awake,” she chirped as she flipped through her pages. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to do one more basic check. Just to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary, then we will bill you and let you go!” 

“Wait... bill?” Al asked.

“Yes, foreigners pay for care,” she confirmed, walking over to him and lifting his arms and checking his heart rate and eyes.

Al gave Zampano and Jerso a worried look, how much was this going to cost?

Sure, they had money and would be able to pay for it, it was how much they would have after that worried him. They planned a month trip to get their bearings and figure out any leads, which they took a reasonable amount of cash to cover any meal and travel expenses. There was also the possibility of doing odd jobs to lengthen the trip if they needed to. This could set them back a few weeks.

“All done, you are one healthy young man, it’s a nice change to see,” she smiled.

“Nice change... what do you mean by that?” Al asked, his attention quickly snapping towards her. She frowned and looked away.

“It’s not one of your troubles, just an outbreak which has been infecting many young men and women. No need to worry though, it seems to only infect Xing citizens, you foreigners will be fine,” she half explained.

She moved to leave but Al quickly blocked her path, growing concerned about this ‘outbreak’. “Outbreak? What do you mean by outbreak? What are the symptoms?”

The woman looked at his determined face in surprise, “It’s really nothing to concern you, we are getting high class doctors to figure out the problem.”

Al shook his head, “I came here to learn all I could about Alkyhestry so I could use it with Alchemy to help others. Let me help, maybe there’s something I know that can help those people.”

The woman looked at the other two men in surprise, who both shrugged in response. They knew that the Elric Brothers were not ones to turn a blind eye when they could do something to help.

“Please, let me help,” Al begged.

She looked back at the golden eyed boy, trying to read his face. Then sighed in defeat, “I see no harm in it, I’ll take you to our newest patient.”

Al nodded in understand and walked behind the doctor as they all left the room, Jerso and Zampano close behind them both. She stopped in front of the room and sighed, placing a mask over her own face while offering the trio each one, in which they all humbly accepted before entering the room.

The first thing they noticed was the smell, it was almost as if something had died and was left to rot for a few days in the scorching hot sun. Al followed the doctor to the section covered by curtains on the other side of the room, holding back a gasp as she moved the curtains away to reveal the patient.

A young Xingese man was lying on a similar mat to what Al woke up on, his breath quick and short as he struggled to breath. Boils had formed on the side of his face, a sickly yellow-green and red, as the clumps trailed down his neck and under his hospital gown. His skin itself was pale and sickly, blue veins being easy to see as some seemed to bulge from under his skin. His hair stuck to his sweating forehead as he muttered and groaned in pain, twitching every so often.

Both Zampano and Jerso back away, unable to keep looking at the suffering man, and Al resisted the urge to do the same. Instead, he focused on the things Mei taught him, how to connect to the vital systems of another person and recognize when something was wrong. He pushed up his sleeves and looked at the doctor, “How long has this been going on?” 

“This is the third week since the first reported outbreak,” she answered without hesitation. “Every report is the same, they’re fine the first hour and then the next... the next these boils show up and they’re on the floor, screaming in pain.”

“Have you tried using Alkahestry?” Al asked.

“No, nobody in this village has the gift in connecting with the Dragons Pulse. That’s why we called for the masters, we’ve come to a dead end,” she whimpered.

“I’m not a master, but I may be able to find something,” Al told her, clapping his hands together, then placing then on the mans chest.

“You shouldn’t touch him-!” The Doctor yelped, worry clear in her voice.

“It’s fine,” Al answered quickly, his focus on the patient. Taking a steady breath, he connected through the Dragons Pulse and reached out for the man. 

He jerked as he felt sickness invade his senses, forcing himself to hold still as he noticed it hanging heavily around the man. Al continued to reach deeper, feeling the flow of energy that ran through the mans body and following it. His hands hovered over the man, moving as he searched for anything out of the ordinary. He stopped at the face, the cloud of sick that hovered around him being thickest there. He dug deeper, his brow furrowing with concentration.

Then he found it, the virus that was causing it all. 

He pulled out with a gasp and stumbled backwards, Zampano caught him as his knees buckled and placed him on a nearby cushion on the floor. “You alright?” Jerso asked, still keeping his distance from the sick man.

“Alkahestry is a bit more... energy consuming,” Al explained, taking in deep breaths. “Mainly healing, organisms are much harder to manipulate that inanimate objects, even if it’s just trying to see how it all works. The man has a virus, it’s in his left cheek. It’s causing those boils which are spreading through his body, and I have a reason to believe he got it from eating something,” Al explained.

“Why is that?” The doctor asked, her facial expression in a state of shock and amazement.

“How else would the virus get there? Are all the other patients like him, a large clump of boils in some area of their face, mainly around the mouth?” Al asked.

The doctor nodded, her eyes as wide as an owls. “They all have them on their face, we never thought that it might be a pattern...”

Al smiled, “it would’ve been impossible to detect without Alkahestry, the boils look almost random. I believe you should wait for your masters to appear before trying to treat it, but tell them what we found.” Al stood up with a heave and stretched out his back, slightly sore from the Alkahestry. Mei warned him that without enough practice, it could easily wear him out if he used it too much. But this was worth it.

“O-Of course!” The Doctor squeaked.

Al looked back at the patient, a frown replacing his earlier smile, “maybe try to find out what they ate before the boils showed up, try and find a pattern. From past experiences, these kind of things usually aren’t... coincidental.”

“Do you know what kind of virus it is?” The doctor asked.

Al shook his head, “no, but I know general make-up of it. It’s thrives on bacteria found in saliva, therefore locating it and destroying or cutting it out should reduce the fever. There may be bits of it in the blood, causing the boils in other areas of the body, so tell the masters to flush them out of the bloodstream to prevent it from getting worse or coming back.” Al nodded towards the door, “Now with that out of the way, let’s go pay that bill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No extreme injuries, but now Al insists on fixing other people’s problems instead of working on his own.


	5. Poisoned Apple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al investigates the outbreak in the small village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sO UM.
> 
> THIS CHAPTER WAS SUPPOSE TO COME OUT SOONER. It has been sitting, FINISHED, in my folder and I absolutely forgot about as I delved into the hell fandom of My Hero Academia and fell in love with icyhot, king explosion murder, tired dad, dying dad, and sweet freckles boi (and everyone else except Mineta)
> 
> SO SORRY.
> 
> HERE IS CHAPTER.

“So now where are we headed?” Jerso asked as the left the hospital-like building. The doctor they helped insisted on letting Al’s help be payment for their previously stated bill, even as Al argued that the masters could’ve done the same thing and more. They came to an agreement that they would pay half of the bill, but Al was still skeptical about the price still being quite low. 

“I was hoping we could figure out what is causing this outbreak, something in my gut is telling me that this isn’t natural,” Al explained.

“Really? You don’t want to try and figure out who tried kidnaping you less than 24 hours ago?” Zampano asked.

“It could’ve been a fluke, or someone who has a grudge against my brother and I. There is a range of possibilities that I could delve into, including another immortality plot which I really hope isn’t the case. In other words, it’s not the most important thing on my mind at the moment,” Al confessed as he looked around the streets for suspicious behaviour.

“But what if they come back? Try to do it again?” Jerso asked.

“I have no doubt they will, but now we know there’s someone who tried to kidnap me, and therefore we can be on guard for next time. We may be able to catch one of them and question them as well, but for now, we just wait. This isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped, it’ll be fine,” Al explained.

“Wait... it’s not?” Zampano suddenly questioned, stopping in his tracks. “This happened before?”

“Ehhhh, kinda? When I was in the armour. Greed- the Greed before Ling-Greed, had a bunch of chimeras, kinda like you guys, come after me. I evaded them for awhile and thought I could take them on, but three chimeras are pretty hard to take on by yourself. Teacher and big brother saved me though, and he wasn’t that bad of a guy either...” Al paused, his hand instinctively reaching for his side. 

Unwelcome memories surfaced, flashes of blood all over, the dreaded feeling of helplessness as the sword slipped past his helm and into the darkness. That horrible noise as the blade made contact with the victim and the horrid scream of anger and pain, cracking off into nothing.

He didn’t notice he was shaking, causing him to jump when Jerso placed a hand on his shoulder. “Al? You trailed off and stopped, then you started shaking,” he said.

Al shook his head, and gave him a smile, “it’s nothing.” Jerso and Zampano shared a look, which Al recognized as the look of doubt. Yet they didn’t press any further on the subject, which Al greatly appreciated. He felt guilty about holding back from telling them about some things, he always told Ed everything. The one time he didn’t ended in miscommunication and anger, then regret. So much regret.

He pushed away the impending thoughts that clawed at the edges of his mind, focusing on the task at hand. Finding the cause of this ‘outbreak’.

From what he saw and concluded from at the hospital, it was most likely that someone was trying to start some sort of idea of a plague by feeding people some sort of food and therefore giving them the virus. His mind quickly concluded that the market area was the best place to do such a thing, they could blend into the crowd and other markets, become invisible. Then when things got too hot, pack up and leave without a second glance their way.

He didn’t like this, it was becoming too similar to the incidents from Amestris that led to the promised day. Only more conspicuous, avoiding detection by hiding behind the idea of ‘natural causes’. Al really hoped this was just him being paranoid, that the cause was just a bad patch of fruit or something. He didn’t want to go through another sacrifice-immortality country wide evil plot thing. One was enough for him. One was more than enough.

“The western alchemist!” A small boy announced from across the street, pointing at Al. He looked over at the xingese boy who grinned as he tugged at his mothers arm. “See mom? From the legends!”

The mother looked worriedly from her son to Al, seeming afraid of Al’s possible reaction to a small boy pointing at him and yelling in xingese. Al smiled back at them and waved at the boy, who’s grin widened even more before he excitedly chattered at his mother. This wasn’t the first time this happened, and he doubted it would be the last time.

He quickly learned that a lot of xingese history was also riddled with legends. One of the most popular being the birth of alchemy in this country, mainly a fair skinned, golden eyed and haired man had taught the people alchemy before disappearing once they got the basics. From there, it developed over years into the highly effective medical arts. 

Al believed that his dad was the one who taught these people alchemy, but he never got around to asking him if that was true or not. 

The fact that both Ed and him inherited his hair and eye colour made them quite recognizable nearly anywhere since the origins of the gene was completely wiped out. It was easy to be mistaken as Amestrain as well in the right light, but the gold eyes were a dead giveaway that they weren’t fully Amestrain. 

May did warn him though that many young children or elders may point him out and connect his features to the legend. Especially the deeper he went into Xing. The west side was used to tourists and travellers, but deeper into the country there were less and less travellers and their different features will greatly stand out. Not to mention less and less people would speak English, therefore Jerso and Zampano would either have to rely on Al for translation or buckle down and learn some basic xingese. 

“Hey Al, what exactly are we looking for?” Jerso asked.

Al snapped out of his thoughts, turning is attention back to the present. “Well... something suspicious? This is still only a theory but I bet someone in this market may be selling some sort of infected food. We can try asking how long each of these vendors have been here. The doctor from before said it started about three weeks ago, so we should try finding which ones have been here for four weeks or longer. Anyone who hasn’t been here that long can probably be crossed off for potential suspects.”

Zampano and Jerso both nodded in understanding. “You’re pretty good at figuring this stuff out,” Zampano noted.

“Heh, well. You learn a few things after revealing a government conspiracy that goes back to the beginning of a country. Skills that aren’t easily forgotten,” Al laughed. 

“Speaking of Amestris, I forgot to tell you I called Mustang after the whole fiasco last night!” Zampano suddenly remembered. “I meant to tell you this morning but it slipped my mind!”

“You did? What did he say?” Al asked.

“Well, he told me that he will keep an ear out about any rumours about you and your brother, but that it may be a problem exclusive to Xing. He said he can’t just send an army if things get crazy based on the fact that it would look bad sending an army over the border to Xing, so we have to deal with this on our own.”

“I expected as much the moment we left Amestris, anything else?” Al questioned.

“He said Ed reported in about a day ago, kid already got into a fistfight,” Zampano sighed. 

“He better have won that fistfight,” Al grinned.

“I have no doubts that he did. He’s doing well though, Mustang said he will tell Ed everything we told him the next time he calls in,” Zampano explained.

“Looks like I may be getting a lecture once we get back to Amestris. Let’s try to drag this trip out as long as possible,” Al joked.

Jerso and Zampano chuckled in union, picturing Edward Elric trying to lecture Al about not getting kidnaped. It was mainly just him screaming and yelling gibberish as Al silently took it with a pained smile. It was a very amusing picture based on the fact that Al was actually a foot taller than Ed now, and Ed would probably take that into account as well when giving his ‘lecture’. Al laughed with them, knowing exactly what they were thinking about. Once you get to know Ed, you can almost guess everything he would do in specific situations. But just almost.

The market was back to normal when they walked down the street, everything fixed thanks to Al, as well as a comforting bustle of people looking through the wares and food that the shops sold. Jerso and Zampano stuck close to Al, looking confused as Al conversed with them in Xingese, but quickly joining the conversation when English was used. Many of the shop owners were bi-monthly merchants, staying in a place for about two months before moving on, or until they were out of wares to sell. Many of the merchants had arrived about a week ago, and they were crossed off the list of suspects. The few that arrived about a month ago only sold items so far, anyone selling food was either new or had left long ago after they sold out or the food got spoiled. 

They wasted half the day out in the sun and came up empty handed. With a heavy sigh, Al collapsed onto a wooden bench. “Nothing,” he huffed, “either the merchants had recently arrived in the town, or they are long gone! This is proving much more difficult than I expected.”

“You’re telling me, Jerso and I need to pick up some xingese soon or we are going to be stuck in this little group every time we need to ask questions instead of saving time and splitting up,” Zampano laughed as he plopped down beside Al with a ‘THWUMP’!

“I was thinking the same thing a while ago, man, probably should have thought about that before travelling to a foreign country,” Al laughed as he scratched his head.

“We can find that library you were talking about this morning after we find a clue, they are bound to have some translation books of some sort,” Jerso suggested.

“I like that idea,” Al smiled, adoring the idea of sitting in a nice quiet building surrounded by pages filled with new knowledge.

“Apple?” Al looked over to see a small xingese girl offering him an Apple. She looked up at him with big eyes, a small, shy smile on her face. “Only 5 yen,” she continued. The poor girl looked like she had been on the streets for months, the basket she used to carry the apples seemed to be handmade. Everything seemed kind of off though, apples were things common in Amestris, but he hadn’t noticed any Apple trees so far in the journey. He didn’t think they were native to Xing, but it couldn’t be entirely possible for it to grow here.

“I don’t see why not? We could use some food,” Jerso shrugged.

The girl smiled and handed them each an apple, in which Al promptly paid her back for them. He looked down at the bright red Apple and felt reminded of an old tale about a young girl and her witch of a stepmother who tries to kill her with a poisoned apple. He stopped himself from taking a bite as something runs across his mind.

“How long have you been selling apples?” Al asked.

The girl shrugged, “about three weeks. Papa’s tree has been giving lots of apples.”

Al stared at the red apple in his hands, then with a light tap of his hands together, he pressed one against the apple. He should have felt a light pulse of energy from the seeds within the apple, but instead he felt something else.

The energy from the apple was strong as it squirmed and oozed in his hands. He gasped and dropped the false fruit onto the ground, feeling his stomachs twist from the feeling. The girl tilted her head in confusion and Zampano and Jerso looked at him with concern.

“Something wrong?” Zampano asked.

“Drop the apples,” Al whispered.

“What?” Jerso asked.

“Those are not apples!” Al cried out, then twisted his attention on the girl. “These are what have been causing the outbreak.”

Zampano and Jerso quickly dropped their fruits in disgust, which dropped to the ground and splattered. Black sludge came from the fruit instead of the white flesh that apples should have. 

“A master?” The girl whimpered, backing away quickly. “Papa said there were no masters in this town!”

“Who is your papa?” Al asked, quickly getting to his feet.

The girl glared at him, then with a twist of her heel, she took off into the crowd. 

“No wait!” Al shouted, then took off after her, leaving Zampano and Jerso behind as they struggled to squeeze through the crowd. He easily weaved through the crowd after the girl, making sure to keep her in sight. “Stop!” He would’ve used alchemy but the crowd was too big and he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary damage.

He managed to finally break from the crowd and took a quick second to spot her turning a corner. He followed her around the corner and froze as a man stood before him, a gun in his hand and the little girl behind him. He slowly brought up his hands in a surrender, “let’s be rational about this,” he suggested.

He couldn’t properly see the mans face as he was covered in shadows, but he stood in a strange fashion. As if strings were holding him up from above and he was nothing more than a rag doll. The girls glare deepened. “Leave me and papa alone, or he will shoot you,” she threatened. 

Al took a cautious step back, keeping his hands in front of him. “Why are you doing this to the town? Why start such an outbreak? What could you gain from such actions?” He questioned, watching the man closely.

“No outsider can understand,” the girl spoke again. Why wasn’t her ‘Papa’ speaking?

“Maybe I can? I just want to know why,” Al begged.

The man stumbled forward, the girl close on his heel. Al resisted the urge to step away as he watched them enter the light. He felt bile rise to his throat as the man was finally visible. 

His glassy eyes and decaying skin indicated he was dead, covered in blisters and boils similar to the one of the outbreak. Al couldn’t guess how long he may have been dead, but he didn’t die recently. “They never helped us. Papa always helped them, but when he got sick, they all abandoned him. They all abandoned us. Now they can abandon each other. And papa and I will laugh,” the girl sneered. She slightly lifted her fingers and the corpse twitched forward.

“You don’t need to fight hate with more hate! People do stupid things, but innocent people shouldn’t be punished!” Al tried to reason.

“Nobody is innocent! They let my papa die! Nobody helped me when I needed them! They are all to blame!” She cried. Another twitch and the corpse moved forward again.

“So you blame me for your fathers death as well?” Al asked.

The girl stopped glaring for a split second, “o-of course! You could have saved him... but you weren’t here.”

Al felt his mind slip towards Nina, a similar line he told himself running on repeat. He could have saved her... but he wasn’t there at the right time. He clenched his fist, this young girl shouldn’t be subjected to such neglectful thinking. “We aren’t gods... we can try to save everyone... but in the end there will always be at least one person we can’t save.”

The girl let out a low growl, “I don’t care. My papa is dead and everyone will pay for it.” Al felt the world slow down as the corpse pulled the trigger. 

He twisted, preparing to take a hit to his back before realizing once more that he lacked the armour body. He tried to jump aside mid-twist and felt a horrible pain gush through his side. As he hit the ground, he clapped his hands together and touched the ground, manipulating it to surround the girl as she cried out in surprise, trapping her.

He took a moment to take a steady breath, easing his heartbeat and attempting to look at the wound on his side. Another trip to a hospital, or he could try using Alkahestry to heal it himself. He stared at the wound for a few moments before deciding against it. He still needed more training before he could actually heal others, much less himself.

“Alphonse!” Zampano cried out.

He looked over as the chimera kneeled next to him, then Zampano took a sharp intake when he saw the bleeding hole in his side. “I forgot I wasn’t armour again,” Al half-heartedly laughed, but stopped quickly as he discovered that laughing hurt.

“We lose sight of you for one minute and this happens,” Jerso heaved, trying to catch his breath as he showed up after Zampano and took in the scene around him. 

“It’s fine, the little girl is caught and I’m not dead, everything is fine,” Al smiled.

Zampano looked into the alley and squinted at the dome of earth that surrounded the girl, then at the corpse that was on the ground beside it. “What the hell happened?”

“I think the girl knows some sort of puppet alchemy... It looked like she was controlling that body over there... but I can’t be absolutely sure...” Al explained. 

“Let’s get you back to that hospital before you bleed out even more, we shouldn’t even be sitting here conversing!” Jerso exclaimed.

“Right, right,” Al brushed off, “just let me lower the dome, we need to explain to the Xing authorities that this girl has been causing the outbreak.” Before his bodyguards could protest, he tapped his palms together and lowered the dome, only... it was empty. “What-?”

“We can’t stay here to ponder, off to the hospital we go!” Zampano ordered, lifting up Al a little too roughly and running in the direction of the hospital they just left. 

He was so sure that he trapped her, how did she get out?

He leaned his head back against Zampanos arm and looked up at the sky and rooftops, feeling tired suddenly. It was slightly memorizing to watch the buildings moved by as the sky remained still. 

Suddenly, his eyes locked with the little girl who clung onto the back of a shadowy figure. Blinking in surprise, he tried to refocus but only found that she disappeared.

This country just got stranger and stranger, puppet masters, shadowy kidnappers, and confusing connections. He hoped that the rest of their trip wouldn’t require so many hospital visits. 

Not to mention he really needed to control his old habits before they got him killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He takes after his big brother... mainly his failure to stay out of hospitals.


	6. Chit Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al calls Ed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some much needed brotherly love, limited through the lines of a phone but still connecting.

Al held the phone to his ear as he leaned against the wall, bracing for the moment the phone will pick up on the other end. He just called Mustang to say hello and tell him that everything was going just fine, in which Mustang told him that Ed was on the other end and he could transfer the call, which now he was waiting for his older brother to pick up. 

The phone clicked and he tensed up, waiting for the outburst. “... Al? You there?” His brothers voice clipped through.

He relaxed, “hello brother, I-“ he started.

“Al, what the actual FUCK!?” Ed’s voice screeched through the line. Al had to pull the phone at arms length away from his ear in order to avoid going deaf from Ed’s banshee shrieking. He could still hear him very clearly though despite the distance between him and the phone. “WE SEPARATE FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND YOU ALREADY GET KIDNAPPED! FIRST WITH GREED, THEN WITH PRIDE! DO I HAVE TO WATCH YOUR ASS EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY? AND WHAT ABOUT THOSE BODYGUARDS OF YOURS? WHERE WERE THEY IN ALL OF THIS?! WHO EVEN TRIES TO KIDNAP YOU, YOU CAN KICK MY ASS BUT YOU CAN’T KICK OTHER PEOPLES ASS?! LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!”

Al sat through his ranting, a pained smile on his face as his brothers voice echoed down the halls and many other passing people gave him strange looks, luckily they probably didn’t understand the variety of swears Ed was using. Al knew better than to try and interrupt his brother now, he would just let him yell until it was all out and he could manage to get his own words through. “A WEEK. ONE WEEK. ONE WEEK AND YOU ALREADY MANAGE TO GET INTO TROUBLE!”

“Says the one who managed to get into a fistfight within the first week,” Al sighed.

“DO YOU LOOK FOR TROUBLE OR- EXCUSE ME BUT I HAD A PERFECTLY GOOD REASON FOR GETTING INTO THAT FISTFIGHT!” Ed shrieked, sounding more offended than angry at this point. Al was surprised he even managed to hear his whispered response, now he had given Ed another reason to continue his rant. “HE HAD INFORMATION I NEEDED AND WOULDN’T GIVE IT TO ME. I POLITELY REQUESTED A BRAWL FOR THE INFORMATION! IT WASN’T MY FAULT HE SWUNG FIRST. Now, you are alright though, no injuries? Not dead or anything?” 

Ed finally lowered his voice, but Al knew he wasn’t out of the woods just yet. “No, I wasn’t injured during the kidnapping. Or killed. Jerso and Zampano made sure of that. But-... um... well I insisted we delve more into the towns personal problems and may have... well I may have gotten shot-“

“WHAT?!” Ed shrieked once again through the line, causing Al to quickly pull the phone away from his ear once again. “HOW DID YOU GET SHOT?! WAS IT FATAL? DID IT HIT YOU SOMEWHERE IMPORTANT? OH GOD ARE YOU PARALYZED NOW?!”

“Brother calm down, it was a clean hole. Just through my side, it missed anything vital, just flesh! The doctor says the Masters will arrive any day now and will be able to fix it immediately. For now I just need to sit down and try not to reopen the wound. Everything is fine!” Al soothed, getting through his Older Brother’s worried shrieking.

“FIRST I BREAK MY WRIST, THEN YOU GET SHOT-!” Ed screamed, only to get cut off by Al’s screaming this time.

“YOU BROKE YOUR WRIST?!” He cried through the phone. “ED I TRADED MY SOUL FOR THAT ARM, YOU CAN’T JUST GO AROUND BREAKING IT LIKE IT’S STILL AUTOMAIL!” 

“How did you know it was my soul-arm?!” Ed gasped.

“It’s your punching arm Ed! If you were to break your wrist, it would be that arm because you punched something too hard!” Al concluded.

“How did you know I broke it by punching something?!” Ed gasped even deeper.

“Ed. How else would you break it?” Al questioned pointedly.

They both sat in silence for a few moments before Ed’s chuckling came through. “You know me too well Al. I should probably admit I also got a small cold because I slept with my shirt pulled up. I don’t know how I’ll survive without you taking care of me,” he laughed.

“Brother! You should know better!” Al scolded. “You better be drinking lots of water to flush out that cold!”

“I am! Promise!” Ed quickly responded, still laughing. “So you really are ok? I get worried sometimes, you know I would ditch everything and travel to Xing if you so much as asked.”

“It’s fine brother, Jerso and Zampano have been really helpful, and I fear they would actually kill someone if I got seriously injured,” Al admitted.

“You reached out to them Al, you reach out to everyone in need. It tends to make people very loyal when you take time to recognize their pain and offer any kind of help you can provide. I wouldn’t be surprised if you came back with more people than you left with,” Ed chuckled.

Al couldn’t help his smile from his brothers kind words, “we can’t seem to avoid trouble, now can we Brother?” 

“It appears not, it likes to follow our every footstep. I would love to blame Hohenheim, but I know most of it comes from our philosopher stone adventure,” Ed agreed. “See anything interesting so far? The newest thing I’ve found was the ability to change the colour of things by adjusting the pigment absorption and reflection ratios of the objects, but it mainly works on inanimate objects. Though I believe that there is an alchemist who specializes in changing the pigment of people’s hair, giving them crazy hair-do’s.”

“Really? Do you know how yet?” Al asked.

“Not yet, but I’m going to find the rumoured alchemist and ask them. How about you?” Ed asked back.

“Well, I met a small girl behind this fake virus outbreak and she used this really weird alchemy to shoot me. It was like puppetry, she was somehow controlling a corpse, making it move where she wanted. At least, that’s my theory,” he recalled his encounter with her.

“Really?! That is so much more cool that what I have! Messed up that it was a corpse, but cool if it could be used with wooden dolls instead!” Ed exclaimed. “Man, you already have a much more exciting adventure than me, I should’ve went to Xing!”

Al laughed, “don’t whine at me brother! I’m sure you will come across some dangerous, life threatening adventure soon enough. Just make sure your leg lasts or Winry will kick your ass!”

“You think I don’t know that? Don’t worry, I won’t break it just yet. I’ll make sure it lasts at least two weeks, that way I’ll win my bet with Mustang!” Ed greedily cackled.

“Oh, Brother...” Al solemnly shook his head. “You know you never win your bets against him.”

“BUT THIS TIME I WILL!” Ed announced. “DOUBLE OR NOTHING!”

“You are going be in so much debt,” Al sighed.

“We’ll see about that brother!” Ed cried.

“Well, good luck on your adventure Big Brother, and stay safe,” Al said with a soft smile, already missing him.

“Same goes to you, Al,” Ed responded. “No dying allowed!”

“No dying allowed!” Al echoed. With a click, he hung up the phone and turned to stare at the wall for a few moments before placing his head into his hands and letting a few tears slide down his face despite his smile. A deep ache filled his chest as a wave of homesick washed over him. Before, he never felt homesick. Their travels were the only thing in his mind during those times. Now he half wished to be back at the Rockbell’s, laughing together as they shared stories over Winry’s apple pie. 

“Hey Al!” Jerso called as he walked around the corner, causing Al to quickly wipe away his tears and perk up as Jerso approached him. “How ya holding up?” He asked.

“The wound slightly aches, but it’s not bleeding anymore,” he laughed. 

“How about mentally? Zampano and I went back to check out the scene, and that body wasn’t exactly pretty,” He worriedly shrugged.

“I’m holding up, brother and I saw quite a lot when Scar was running around blowing up people,” Al shrugged. “You develop thick skin, and that stuff no longer affects you that much.”

“Or it affects you in different ways,” Jerso sighed.

Al remained silent at his comment, knowing quite well what he meant. “Do you know where that girl went?” He asked instead. 

Jerso shook his head after a small pause, “there were no signs of her throughout the village. She could be anywhere at this point.”

“That just means we have to keep moving forward. Where is Zampano?” Al asked.

“Checking out that library we were trying to get to the entire time we’ve been in this village,” Jerso grinned.

“Really?” Al wondered.

“Of course! Zampano is looking for a books about translation and maybe something about the country’s alchemy for you. There was even some mention of a book store in the village, so he was going to look into that right after,” Jerso explained.

“Man, I feel useless just sitting here, and this is the second time in this hospital in less than two days...” Al sighed.

“You aren’t useless! You saved this village from a fake plague! Zampano and I would’ve just moved on, convinced we couldn’t be able to do anything. But you took it as a challenge, and rose up to beat it! You took a bullet, so what? Your brother was always in hospitals, but he wasn’t useless! Neither of you are,” Jerso scolded.

“The only reason he was in the hospital all the time was because he was a reckless idiot!” Al groaned, “I am not an idiot like my brother, I’m much more sensible!”

“Exactly, it wasn’t your fault!” Jerso slyly grinned, playing Al like a fiddle.

He quickly saw what he did, and began to laugh, “I can’t believe you played me like that! Walked right into it, didn’t I?”

Jerso’s grin turned to a soft smile as he ruffled Al’s hair, “don’t be so hard on yourself. We still have a long ways to go and we don’t need you beating yourself up in the beginning.”

Al continued to laugh as he shoved his hand off his head and tried to smooth his hair back into place, “thanks Jerso.”

“Anytime,” Jerso smiled.

“Hey, once I get out of his hospital, mind sparing with me? I haven’t had any good practice lately and I think that may be the reason I’m so off. Not to mention Ed has been going easy on me and I believe it’s insulting,” Al requested.

“Only once that hole in your waist heals,” Jerso promised.

“Don’t hold out, I need the practice,” Al warned.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t want to face the wrath of Al,” Jerso joked.

“The wrath of Al would be able to kick your ass four times over!” Al grinned.

Jerso gasped, “profanity!”

“I’m allowed to swear!” Al laughed. 

Jerso patted his head, “But you’re only 12! Little children shouldn’t swear!”

Al jumped to his feet, determination blazing in his eyes, “I’m 16! Almost 17! Another year or so and I’ll be able to legally drink! I’m definitely allowed to swear! Especially after everything I’ve been through!”

Jerso tried to picture the small blonde drinking and getting drunk, but only got a picture of him ordering milk in a bar full of burly men. He stifled his laughter.

“What?” Al asked, confused by his terribly hidden laughter. “What’s so funny about that?”

Jerso heavily patted his back as he also stood up, “It’s just hard picturing you as anything else but some scrawny blonde kid!”

Al pouted, complaining about how he was not scrawny and he would drink like an adult all the way back to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ed really need to just bring Winry with him everywhere. And Al needs to stop sacrificing himself.

**Author's Note:**

> You guys want more? Maybe? Leaving comments makes my heart happy.


End file.
